AUDIO
LANGUAGE/TEXT/IMAGE
Audio 6/14
6.
Gary Hill
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AUDIO
Gary Hill
For nearly fifty years now, American video artist Gary Hill has dedicated his work to the technological possibilities of video art. The three works on display here highlight the diversity of his oeuvre. In his poetic video-sound installations, Hill frequently explores the act of speech and the role of the human body in the surrounding space. Hill probes how we humans perceive communication and investigates the relationship between image, sound and writing, though he deliberately avoids offering clear answers.
In his early work Electronic Linguistics from 1977, Hill attempts to make sounds visible electronically. At first, we see small, single pixel structures that gradually grow into more organic forms, then collapse, only to reappear on screen in new shapes. These shifting forms are accompanied by electronically generated sounds. As viewers, we search for patterns and melodies, trying in vain to assign meaning to these visualisations.
The second video work, Tale Enclosure from 1985, is equally enigmatic. At first, we see lines from a poem. Gradually, sounds begin to emerge – they originate from the voices and movements of two people and evolve into words. Only slowly do we realise the connection between the written words and the voices. Language is presented here as both a complex system of signs and a poetic instrument.
In Twofold (Goats & Sheep), the physical act of speaking takes centre stage. A text is presented in two versions: once spoken aloud, and once conveyed through sign language. Depending on the position of the signer’s hands, we see either their front or back. The voice is doubled and can be heard with a slight delay, creating an echo effect.
Gary Hill sees parallels between video and language because both unfold in a temporal sequence, and both must be interpretated in that sequence. A video consists of a series of single images, just as language comprises a sequence of sounds, gestures or signs which we, the recipients, need to make meaningful. Through his video works, Gary Hill invites us to contemplate the diversity and complexity of communication.